Welsh Affairs Correspondent Tom Bodden asks where the campaign for the Union has gone wrong in Scottish referendum battle

No supporters backing more powers for the Scottish Parliament if independence is rejected

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AS the Scottish Saltire flutters over Downing Street, and UK party leaders abandon PM question time to head North, supporters of the United Kingdom must wonder: “How did it come to this?”

Not so long ago, the No campaign in the Scottish referendum was basking in a hefty 60-40 split in their favour in opinion polls.

Prime Minister David Cameron was so confident of victory, he rejected the idea of a third question on the ballot paper offering the Scots the middle road option of Devo-Max powers.

Fast forward to today and there are ‘just 8 days to save the Union’, and the three main parties are in collective panic as Alex Salmond contemplates a dream fulfilled of a majority in favour of Scotland leaving the UK.

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Watching from a distance, the Better Together campaign appeared hamstrung by its internal political constraints, a large portion of complacency and ingrained dullness.

It is hard enough to sell the concept of a No vote, by its very nature a negative, but the realisation that the deal with the Scottish people had to be presented as a ‘positive’ decision may well have dawned too late.

Why did it take so long to solidify the case for enhanced devolution after a No vote, when it was clear that a majority in Scotland actually favoured Devo-Max as a solution.

Setting out a timetable for the offer - after thousands had already voted in postal ballots - smacked not only of panic but also of political chicanery.

Whatever the outcome in Scotland next Thursday, the implications for Wales, England and Northern Ireland will be profound, politically, economically and culturally.

A Scottish exit will reduce Wales’s influence in the (r)UK with our share of MPs in the Commons just 40 compared to 598 from England.

First Minister Carwyn Jones’s consistent call for a constitutional convention to address the future make-up of the UK was repeatedly left off the Westminster agenda.

Now there is plenty of political will to address the aftermath of a No vote but little sign of a Plan B in the event of Scotland voting Yes.

Support for Welsh independence fluctuates around 10% and the Welsh economy could not sustain the level of public services required without financial support from Westminster.

The future of devolution here matters.

The question for many in Scotland may now come down to who they trust. The promise of a new independent dawn from the SNP against the pledges of a new relationship within the family of the UK now proposed by Westminster.

As the push comes to shove how will the Scottish voters react to the real prospect of independence and the uncertainties that brings in its wake.

Will those sizeable numbers of ‘Don’t Knows’ and recent converts to Yes actually choose to go for it? If they do, the unionist party machines have only themselves to blame.